Living in Peru : your everyday companion

The President of the Graña and Montero Group, Jose Graña said today that he has met with American, Chinese and Singaporean Business owners interested in investing in Peru. The first talks had with these potential investors have been dedicated to the study of Peruvian corporations and the projects they are developing at the moment.

 All of these meetings have happened within the time frame of the APEC forum and the ABAC meeting which began on Monday and ends today.

One of the objectives of the ABAC meeting is in fact to bring together different economies and increase investment. The Graña and Montero Group expect to achieve further business alliances in future with foreign investors. 

The partnership would lead to deals in construction and development of hotel and oil infrastructure.

Graña stated that the talks prove the projection of growth in the financial and infrastructural development sector will keep a steady increase pace in the years to come. 

“Financial development for large infrastructural projects for next year is assured in spite of the global financial crisis”, assured Graña

News source: Andina

China and Peru concluded their talks on a free trade agreement (TLC) and upgraded bilateral ties to a strategic partnership here on Wednesday.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Peruvian President Alan Garcia announced the news after their official talks.

Hu said the move symbolized that bilateral ties are entering a new era of rapid development.

Since the beginning of this year, China-Peru ties have made new headway. Both countries maintained close political contact, strengthened political mutual trust, expanded trade links and enhanced cultural exchanges, and maintained close consultation and cooperation in international and regional affairs.

Vicepresidenst Luis Giampietri urged Peruvian entrepreneurs to leave aside all fear that the TLC might harm the Peruvian economy and to embrace the international agreement as an opportunity to increase exports.

 On the future of bilateral cooperation, Hu said China and Peru should give full play to each other's advantages in resources, technology, capital and market.

After the conclusion of FTA negotiations, Hu urged the two sides to sign and implement the pact at an early date so as to bring benefits to the two peoples as soon as possible.

More efforts could be made in the mining area and the Chinese side hoped the Peruvian side could facilitate Chinese enterprises seeking to invest in Peru.

Chinese enterprises have mature expertise and rich experience in the construction of ports, roads, telecommunications, electricity network and urban water-supply system and are willing to participate in all these projects in Peru, Hu said.

 He also suggested both sides enhance cooperation in hi-tech fields and others like poverty eradication.

Garcia said China is a reliable friend of Peru and Peru supports China's development.
Peru expects more Chinese mining enterprises to invest in Peru and is ready to create sound investment conditions and environment for Chinese corporations, Garcia said.

 Also on Wednesday, China and Peru signed 11 cooperative documents in economy, technology, health, customs, poverty relief, finance, mining, agriculture and other areas. Hu and Garcia both attended the signing ceremony.

The two presidents also witnessed the opening of three Confucius Institutes in Peruvian universities.

Hu arrived in Lima from the Cuban capital Havana for a state visit to Peru. During his stay, he will also attend the Economic Leaders' Informal Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

News source: China View

The annual Ministers of Foreign Commerce and Foreign Affairs meeting with the participation of APEC member economy leaders will continue today as a prelude to the Leaders Summit.

In this meeting which constitutes the highest of ministerial meetings of the APEC Summit; dignitaries evaluate the activities which have taken place during the year as well as sharing information and recommendations to be considered during the Leaders Summit.
 
This important forum will take place at the Museo de la Nacion after which ministers will offer a press conference to inform the public on their conclusions.

At the same time the Center of Lima’s San Francisco Convent will host the Entrepreneurial leaders Meeting (CEO Summit). Over 187 thousand business men have signed up for this event, 850 of which are foreigners.

The 4th Business Advisory Council Meeting (ABAC) will be held at the Hotel los Delfines along side the “Invest in Peru” Forum.  The later will be attended by State Ministers, Finance Executives and Leaders of different Unions among other guests.

The APEC Forum will have its most important meetings on the 21st and 22nd of November when the XVI Leaders Summit will begin.  

News source: Andina

Even though hopes are high when it comes to the commercial benefits Peru will receive after the signing the Free Trade Agreement with China, many are still doubtful.

The Economic and Social Investigation Association issued a study as to the most likely outcome of the TLC.

The results read that the percentage of Small and Medium businesses able export their products to China successfully were very slim. The agreement is most likely to benefit large companies rather than smaller industries.

The main reasons for this are the lack of government support and aid in respect to bureaucratic obstacles, the lack of commercial experience and sufficient funds for smaller businesses and the inability to recognize international trading opportunities.

The studies author, Juan León Mendoza went on to explain that if the Government focuses on solving these issues then Peru will be able to increase its exports within the next few years.       

News source: Diario Gestion
 

During the closing ceremony of the 2nd ABAC Small and Medium Enterprise Summit, Peruvian president Alan García said it was necessary to promote world trade liberalization as a solution to the financial crisis. The APEC is the measure necessary to counteract the global crisis.

In his speech, the Peruvian leader expressed his concern that G-20 countries would not adequately understand the nature of this challenge, and therefore choose to promote protectionism and statism.

President García said that the financial regulation is not enough to solve the current crisis, because this formula was used to tackle problems affecting the world back in the 70s.

"What we have to do is further promote world trade liberalization and I am afraid that the G-20 only signs documents, but does not understand the problem and we could fall into," he said during his official speech.

According to the Peruvian leader, the current financial crisis is a crisis of "wealth" and not of poverty like it was in the past.

News source: El Comercio, Andina

Vice-admiral Luis Giampietri Rojas, Chairman of the APEC 2008 High-Level Commission, was optimistic about the closing of negotiations for the signature of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the People’s Republic of China, in the frame of the visit of this Economic Leader, Hu Jintao, to Peru to participate in APEC 2008 Leaders’ Week.

Vice-admiral Giampietri highlighted that the visit of the highest representative of China also shows an interest from that Economy to finalize a greater joint economic and commercial integration.  “I believe that from every point of view, it is a good opportunity for Peru", he said while he visited the International Media Center (IMC).

He also said that tourism and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) would be mostly benefited with this commercial agreement.  “The increase of goods manufacturing and the size of the Chinese market will favor SMEs, whenever they work collectively, with discipline; meeting agreed terms and complying with quality standards,” he said.
Vice-Admiral Giampietri also said that he was pleased with the visit of the Chinese Leader, Hu Hintao, since it was the first time in which a Leader from this economy has visited Peru.

However, in spite of Gianpietris optimistic attitude towards the TLC many different union and bussiniess sectors have criticized the way in which this deal has been negotiated.

César Peñaranda, excecutive director of the Chamber of Commerce’s institute of Economy and Development said that even though most Peruvians see the TLC as a good thing it is necessary for them to know the full nature of the agreement. Details regarding the trade agreement between China and Peru have not been made known to the public as of yet.

“We are trying to open the Asian market with a tariff of 0 on agricultural and fish related products which are already sold on the international market or that have a high potentiality for trade. We want to know if this point was achieved or not. This is why we require complete transparency regarding the meetings taking place as well as to be informed of any major updates.”

He invited Minister Mercedes Araoz and Vice- Minister Eduardo Ferreyros to inform the public on the main points of the agreement.

Pedro Manzur, President of the National Textile Business Union said that though many Peruvian business owners are not against the TLC itself they do object to it being tended to hastily and with out the necessary consideration as to the needs of small national producers.   

News source: Andina, ft-news